Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
ALORA
“And then I went to look at the apartment but it wasn’t anywhere near what was advertised,” Pascal continues as he sips his wine.
I catch my bottom lip with my teeth as I glance around, Pascal has settled right in as if we are old friends. I couldn’t leave because I had already ordered and I had to stay and eat my dinner, but there is a giant elephant in the room as to why he is hanging around.
We are no longer together, and yet here he is acting exactly like he did when we were?
He’s talking about old stories and telling me all about what he’s been doing lately and it’s been nice to see him, and I mean, I don’t want to be rude.
He is a lovely man who I care a great deal for, but I would rather he just come out and say what he wants to say instead of acting as if we are long-lost friends.
Philippe appears through the restaurant. “Hello, Miss Sorenson.”
What the hell is Edward’s guard still doing here? I thought they left this morning. I glance around, wait, is he here?
Philippe passes me the phone as his eyes hold mine. “You have a phone call, Alora.”
What the hell?
“I have to take this; I’ll be back in a moment,” I tell Pascal as I get up and walk out into the foyer. “Hello.”
“What the fuck are you doing!” Edward bellows, nearly bursting my eardrum. I hold the phone away from my ear.
“Excuse me?” I glance around and head out the front door of the hotel into the street. “Where are you?”
“Monaco.”
“So why is Philippe still here?” I demand.
“Keeping an eye on you. Why the fuck is Pascal there? You told me you broke up.”
“Do not speak to me like that, Edward. I won’t have it,” I whisper angrily.
“Then do not disobey me because I won’t have that.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I whisper angrily. “I bumped into him. It was a complete coincidence.”
“Like hell,” he yells. “There is nothing coincidental about this.”
I screw up my face in disbelief, what the fuck is this guy on?
“Since when do I have to do as you say, Edward, we aren’t together.”
“Last night it was a male escort and tonight it’s your fucking ex,” he bellows as he completely loses control.
“Stop yelling like a lunatic.” From my peripheral vision I see Philippe walk out behind me and I turn on him like the devil. “Go inside,” I snap, annoyed.
He holds both hands up as if surrendering but doesn’t move.
Fucker.
“You are purposely trying to piss me off,” Edward growls through the phone.
“Keep yelling and I am hanging up on you.”
“You. Will—” he screams.
I hang up on him mid-sentence. “Idiot.” My phone immediately rings and I hit decline. “Don’t even.”
I turn and storm over to Philippe. “Listen here, you. If you are intent on following me around, do not cause me trouble. Edward is losing his living shit right now over nothing.”
“Just doing my job.”
“If you are following me then you do as I say,” I snap. My phone rings again. “What do you want?” I answer as I move away from Philippe so he can’t hear the conversation.
“Don’t. You. Dare. Hang. Up. On. Me.”
I roll my eyes. “Then stop yelling at me.”
“I’m here trying to work while doing all I can to hide from Hermione only to find out that you are having dinner with your fucking ex.”
What?
Why would he even care?
“Hermione is there?” I ask.
“Yes,” he fumes.
“Did you invite her?”
“No, I did not. The casino is an open business, I have no control over who visits.”
I imagine her all glammed up and looking beautiful and yet here he is being jealous over me, my mind begins to race with hope.
Maybe, just maybe…in some fucked-up psychopath kind of way, he cares.
“I was having dinner and Pascal walked in and his friend bailed on him, he asked if he could sit and have a chat, what was I supposed to say?”
“No. You were supposed to say no, Alora.”
I think for a moment. “Okay,” I say softly. “Why, Edward?”
Silence.
“Why don’t you want me with Pascal?”
“We have unfinished business. You know we do.”
“So if we have unfinished business, why did you leave with another woman last night?”
“I didn’t touch her.”
I screw up my face. That’s bullshit.
“I have to go,” I snap.
“To do what?”
I know this is toxic as all hell, but I want to see what he says if I play along with him. “I’m going to go inside and tell him.”
“Tell him what?”
“Goodbye.” I shrug. “That we are over for good and to not contact me again.”
“Thank you.” His voice softens.
I frown as I listen. “You do the same.”
“I plan on it.”
We hang on the line waiting for the other to say something.
“What’s going on?” I ask. “Between us?”
“I don’t know.”
Wrong answer….
“If you don’t know, why have you left a guard here in Paris to spy on me?”
“To keep you safe.”
“From other men?”
“Just go to bed, Alora,” he demands.
“You can’t tell me what to do, Edward.” My temper rises.
“For the love of god. You are stressing me the fuck out. Go back to your room alone and go to bed.”
“Or what?”
“Or there will be hell to fucking pay!” he screams.
Click.
The phone goes dead.
Oh my fucking god, he did not just hang up on me. I dial his number. Ring….
“What?” he snaps.
“Do not fucking dare hang up on me.” I hang up on him and turn my phone off.
I march over to Philippe like the Terminator. “Do not mess with me or I will fucking end you.”
His eyes widen and he lets out a surprised chuckle.
“And you can tell your wimpy boss to go fuck himself.”
He does laugh out loud this time.
“Nothing about this is funny, Philippe,” I growl as I storm inside and I walk back in through to the restaurant and take a seat.
“Everything alright?” Pascal asks.
“Ahh, yes.” I try to think on my feet. “Just a…family thing.”
He glances over and sees Philippe sit at another table. “Who is that man?”
“Umm.”
He frowns as his eyes come back to me. “Is he….”
I swallow the lump in my throat, please don’t say it.
“Is he one of Prescott’s guards?”
I can’t lie.
“He is,” I murmur.
“So you’re with Prescott now?”
“Pascal,” I whisper. “No.”
His eyes search mine. “You left me because you kissed him.”
“No. He’s not the reason we broke up.”
“But you are seeing him and it’s been all of three weeks?”
“I’m not. I swear to you.”
“He’s with the princess, Alora.” He screws up his face in disgust. “So you’re going to be his side chick?”
“No,” I snap.
He gives a disgusted shake of his head. “So how long were you thinking about him while you were with me?”
From the minute I saw him.
“Pascal, you’re a really great man. You deserve better than what we were together.”
“Did you sleep with him?” His eyes turn murderous. “Were you and he fucking while you were with me?”
“It’s not like that,” I stammer.
“That’s exactly how it is.” He slams his hand down on the table, making me jump. “That fucking asshole,” he cries.
“Everything alright here?” Philippe asks.
Pascal’s heartbreak is palpable and guilty tears fill my eyes, physically I’ve done nothing but yes, I was definitely thinking of Edward while I was with him. “Pascal was just leaving.”
“I’ll never forgive you for this,” Pascal spits as he stands. “I hope he breaks your heart like you have mine.” He marches from the restaurant.
My shoulders slump in disappointment, that couldn’t have gone worse.
Philippe gives me a sympathetic smile as if only now understanding what has just happened. “Can I get you anything, Miss Sorenson?” he asks softly.
“I’m going to have another drink before I go up to my room.”
“Alright.” He calls for the server. “I’ll just be over at my table. Edward will call me to check on you in two minutes anyway.”
Why?
“How many times has he called you to check on me today?” I ask.
“At least ten.”
Hmm, I need intel…. All of it.
“Will you sit down and have a drink with me?” I ask.
“I’m not….”
“I know you’re not supposed to talk to me, but I did tell you that I would end you, and I’m feeling pretty gangster about it, so…. We kind of have to be friends now.”
He gives me a lopsided smile and sits down opposite me. “Maybe just one drink won’t hurt.”
“Thanks.” With a shaky hand I pour us both a glass of wine. “I didn’t expect to see my ex here tonight, you know? This whole situation has me very on edge.”
He takes a sip. “Miss Sorenson, if I may speak out of turn.”
“Please.”
“Mr. Prescott is acting very out of character at the moment.”
“How so?”
“Before today he’s never once called before to check on a partner. When they are with me and under my care, he never thinks twice about them.”
“He hasn’t?”
“No.”
“How long have you worked for him?”
“Nine years.”
“Oh.” My eyes hold his. “But Edward and I aren’t together.”
“Are you sure about that?”
I stare at him as I try to connect the dots…does he like me?
He taps the side of his nose with a wink as if to say it’s a secret.
“Not a word.”
Click.
The clock scrolls to 1 a.m.
I lie on my side in the darkness, sleep evades me, I thought he’d call me when he calmed down.
Perhaps he won’t.
Yes, he was checking on me, but maybe right at this very moment he’s probably kissing her. I get a vision of them together at the charity auction and how perfect they looked together.
The Princess of Switzerland and the English casino mogul, a match made in heaven.
With every moment that passes the more my certainty that they are going to get back together increases. She’s beautiful and well connected, a fucking princess for Pete’s sake.
I roll onto my back and stare up at the ceiling. My stomach is in knots, my anxiety at an all-time high, every emotion seems heightened and out of balance.
My mind goes back to where we met. Switzerland, what was he doing at the Establishment?
At the time I thought that he wanted to hold control over someone, but now that I know him better it’s blatantly obvious that he controls everything and everyone anyway, so I’m not so sure anymore.
Maybe he’s just a pervert who frequents sex clubs, looking for his next kink. Maybe that was just an average weekend for him. He’s probably had another two hundred weekends just like it since.
Stop it.